TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2017 SPORTS Pakistan bars five cricketers from leaving country

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan govern- code during the recent Pakistan Super are scheduled to give statements today. a retired judge and a retired general to Emirates for alleged spot-fixing during ment has barred the five cricketers League. Jamshed is still in Britain, where Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali conduct its own inquiry against the PSL’s opening match. involved in alleged spot-fixing from he was first arrested as part of investi- Khan directed FIA officials to carry out a Sharjeel and Latif. The PCB’s anti-corruption unit ques- leaving the country. The Pakistan gation into alleged corruption in the thorough investigation against the five Last week, the cricket board provi- tioned Irfan and Hasan during the PSL, Cricket Board has provisionally sus- PSL. The interior ministry said in a state- players. Khan said there should be a sionally suspended Irfan and Shahzaib but they were allowed to compete in pended Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, ment that Irfan and Latif gave state- zero tolerance policy and anybody who and gave them two weeks to respond the tournament. Both were provisional- , Shahzaib Hasan and ments to officials of the is involved in spot-fixing should not be to the charges. ly suspended after they gave state- Nasir Jamshed from playing any form of Federal Investigation Authority in spared. The PCB has formed a separate Last month, Sharjeel and Latif were ments to the anti-corruption officials in cricket for violating anti-corruption Lahore yesterday. Hasan and Sharjeel three-member tribunal which includes sent home from the United Arab Lahore last week. — AP

NHL Blackhawks beat Avalanche, Penguins defeat Panthers

CHICAGO: Jonathan Toews scored twice point season and moved them into a tie while Richard Panik and Artemi Panarin with Washington for the NHL’s best record each had one in the third period to erase with 11 games left. Columbus, which Colorado’s two-goal lead and rally the joined the league in 2000, last made the Chicago Blackhawks past the Avalanche 6- playoffs in 2014. Boone Jenner added two 3 on Sunday night for their fifth straight goals, one short-handed and the other into win. Patrick Kane scored his team-leading an empty net. Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 32nd goal and Marcus Kruger added an saves for Columbus, which is 12-3-1 in its empty-netter for Chicago, which won for last 16 games. Adam Henrique scored for the 17th time in its last 20 games to pull the Devils, whose season is all but over seven points ahead of second-place after falling to 1-10-2 in its last 13. Minnesota in the Central Division. The Wild dropped their fifth straight, 5-4 to JETS 5, WILD 4 Winnipeg on Sunday. With Chicago trailing Josh Morrissey one-timed in a goal with 3-1, Toews tipped in Kane’s bouncing shot 7:17 left to end Minnesota’s rally from four at 10:17 of the third period to cut it to 3-2. goals down and give the Winnipeg Jets a The goal withstood a video review that chaotic victory over the Wild. It was showed Toews may have been offside. Minnesota’s fifth straight loss and they only Panik rifled in a loose puck from the slot 17 have two wins in their last 10 games. seconds later to tie it at 3. Panarin put Winnipeg led 4-0 early in the second period Chicago ahead 4-3 just 17 seconds after after scoring on four of its first eight shots that. Chicago backup Scott Darling but the Wild rallied with four straight goals stopped 22 shots to extend his winning in the second period. Andrew Copp and streak to six games. Mikhail Grigorenko Adam Lowry scored on Winnipeg’s first and scored twice and Sven Andrighetto had a third shots, respectively, and Ben Chiarot goal for the last-place Avalanche. and Dustin Byfuglien also found the back of the net. Mathieu Perreault and Blake PENGUINS 4, PANTHERS 0 Wheeler each had a pair of assists, with Sidney Crosby again picked up the slack Wheeler getting to 500 career points. Chris with Evgeni Malkin out, getting his 10th Stewart scored twice and Charlie Coyle and career hat trick and leading the Pittsburgh Mikael Granlund also had goals for the Wild. Penguins past the Florida Panthers. RANCHI: Australian batsman and Steve Smith (R) is bowled as Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha (C) reacts during the fifth day of the Crosby’s natural hat trick came in a span of FLYERS 4, HURRICANES 3 third cricket Test match between India and Australia at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) Stadium complex in Ranchi yesterday. — AFP 11 minutes between the second and the Travis Konecny tied it with 42.9 seconds third period, pushing his goal total to an left in the third period and Brayden Schenn NHL-high 40 and moving him into a tie scored 38 seconds into overtime to lift the CRICKET with Edmonton’s Conner McDavid for the Philadelphia Flyers over the Carolina league scoring lead with 80 points. Hurricanes. Jordan Staal scored a power- Linemates Conor Sheary and Jake Guentzel play goal with 8:11 left in the third to put assisted on all three of Crosby’s goals. Patric Carolina ahead 3-2 but Konecny scored Marsh, Handscomb help Hornqvist added his 18th of the season for with Flyers goalie Steve Mason on the Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 bench for an extra attacker, then Schenn shots for his 44th career shutout. The ended it by finishing a rebound from close Australia draw third Test Penguins remained one point behind range. Ivan Provorov had a goal and two Columbus for second place in the assists and Dale Weise also scored for Metropolitan Division behind Washington. Philadelphia, which pulled within five RANCHI: Skipper Steve Smith said the momen- Florida’s Jaromir Jagr joined Gordie Howe, points of idle Toronto for the final playoff tum was now firmly with Australia in their battle SCOREBOARD Mark Messier and Ron Francis as only play- spot in the Eastern Conference. against India after a fine final-day rearguard ers in NHL history to play in 1,700 games Philadelphia, which has 11 games remain- action by his batsmen saw the visitors draw the RANCHI, India: Scoreboard at the close on the fifth and final day of the third Test between India and Australia in but the Panthers saw their fading playoff ing, would have to pass three teams for a third Test yesterday. Ranchi yesterday. hopes take another hit. Reimer finished postseason bid. Jeff Skinner and Elias Australia, who began their second innings Australia 1st innings 451 (S. Smith 178 , G. P. Handscomb not out 72 with 24 saves but received little help from Lindholm also scored for Carolina, which is 152 runs adrift of India, were in deep trouble those in front of him. six points out of the playoffs. Maxwell 104; R. Jadeja 5-124, U. Yadav 3-106) G. Maxwell c Vijay b Ashwin 2 after being reduced to 63-4 before Peter India 1st innings 603-9 dec (C. Pujara 202, W. Saha 117; M. Wade not out 9 Handscomb (72 not out) and Shaun Marsh (53) Extras (b9, lb4, nb3) 16 BLUE JACKETS 4, DEVILS 1 CANADIENS 4, SENATORS 1 P. Cummins 4-106, S. O’Keefe 3-199) put on 124 for the fifth . The tourists Australia 2nd innings (overnight 23-2; Renshaw seven Total (6 ; 100 overs) 204 Lukas Sedlak and Brandon Dubinsky Carey Price made 30 saves for his 33rd Did not bat bat: S. O’Keefe, P. Cummins, J. Hazlewood eventually reached 204 for 6 at stumps on the not out) scored on penalty shots and the Columbus win of the season as the Montreal Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Warner), 2-23 (Lyon), 3-59 fifth and final day, after the hosts made a mam- D. Warner b Jadeja 14 Blue Jackets clinched their third playoff Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators to (Renshaw), 4-63 (Smith), 5-187 (Marsh), 6-190 (Maxwell) moth 603-9 declared in their first innings in M. Renshaw lbw b Sharma 15 berth in franchise history with a victory sweep the home-and-home series. Bowling: Ashwin 30-10-71-1, Jadeja 44-18-54-4, Yadav Ranchi. Ravindra Jadeja claimed four wickets to N. Lyon b Jadeja 2 over the New Jersey Devils. This was only Tomas Plekanec, Jordie Benn, Paul Byron 15-2-36-0, Sharma 11-0-30-1 (3nb) return overall match figures of 9-178 at India’s S. Smith b Jadeja 21 Result: Draw the third time in NHL history that a team and Nathan Beaulieu scored for the newest Test venue. But Smith said Australia S. Marsh c Vijay b Jadeja 53 Series: Four-match scored twice in a game on penalty shots. Canadiens, who lead the Atlantic Division would go into next weekend’s series finale in Thomas Gradin and Ivan Hlinka of by four points over the Senators, who still Dharamsala full of confidence. “If there’s any- field for the rest of Australia’s innings but batted when Kohli accused Smith of abusing the deci- Vancouver did it against Detroit in 1982, have one game in hand. Tom Pyatt scored a thing called momentum in cricket, it’s with our and Ryane Clowe and Joe Thornton of San first-period goal for the Senators. Craig at his usual number four position. sion review system. side at this moment,” Smith told reporters after Constant run-ins between the players of the Australia won the first Test in Pune before Jose converted against Washington in Anderson stopped 33 shots. The Canadiens the match. “India coming today would have 2009. The win was the fourth straight for also beat the Senators in Ottawa on two top sides kept alive the intense rivalry that India came back to level the series in the ill-tem- expected to bowl us out. I’m sure they’re hurting reached boiling point in the previous game, pered match in Bangalore. — AFP the Blue Jackets, gave them their first 100- Saturday, winning 4-3 in a shootout. —AP a little bit in their change room. Having said that, it’s (four-match series) 1-1 and looking forward to the decider.” Cheteshwar Pujara (202) and MOTOR RACING NHL results/standings Wriddhiman Saha (117) were the main stars of the match for India with a 199-run seventh-wick- Calgary 5, Los Angeles 2; Philadelphia 4, Carolina 3 (OT); Montreal 4, Ottawa 1; Chicago 6, Colorado 3; et stand on Sunday, while Smith himself scored Winnipeg 5, Minnesota 4; Columbus 4, New Jersey 1; Pittsburgh 4, Florida 0. an imperious unbeaten 178 in Australia’s first Rivals are closer warns Western Conference Ottawa 39 24 8 188 185 86 innings. But it was Handscomb and Marsh’s 232- Central Division Boston 38 27 6 205 188 82 minute resistance on the final day-broken only Mercedes F1 boss Wolff WLOTLGFGAPTS Toronto 32 23 15 212 208 79 late in the last session-that proved decisive. Chicago 47 20 5 218 178 99 Jadeja dismissed Marsh and his fellow spinner Tampa Bay 34 28 9 194 197 77 LONDON: Formula One’s new rules are “just with Williams, has replaced 2016 world cham- Minnesota 43 22 6 232 178 92 Ravichandran Ashwin then claimed the wicket of Florida 31 29 11 180 204 73 what the doctor ordered”, even if rival teams pion Nico Rosberg, who retired days after win- St. Louis 38 28 5 197 193 81 first innings centurion Glenn Maxwell for two, Buffalo 29 31 12 180 210 70 have become more competitive, according to ning his first title. Hamilton, winner of 53 Nashville 35 25 11 209 201 81 giving India brief hope of a dramatic final twist Detroit 28 31 11 177 210 67 Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff. grands prix over his career to date, starts the Winnipeg 32 33 7 217 230 71 in the tale. Dallas 28 33 10 195 233 66 Metropolitan Division The Austrian said in a preview for Sunday’s season as favourite for a fourth championship Colorado 20 48 3 138 234 43 Washington 46 17 8 228 159 100 Australian season-opener in Melbourne that and to win the opening race. STICKING IT OUT Pacific Division Columbus 47 18 6 228 164 100 Mercedes, the dominant team of the past Bookmakers William Hill have the Briton at But a composed Handscomb played out the San Jose 42 22 7 196 165 91 Pittsburgh 45 17 9 249 198 99 three years, faced a big challenge. 10/11 for Melbourne, with Ferrari’s Sebastian remaining few overs with Wade for company as Anaheim 38 23 11 186 178 87 NY Rangers 45 24 3 231 189 93 “We have been very successful over the last Vettel second favourite at 7/2 and Bottas at Calgary 41 27 4 201 193 86 Australia avoided defeat in their 800th Test. “I’m NY Islanders 33 26 12 210 218 78 three years through stable rules-but no team 6/1. “We believe that it is going to be another Edmonton 38 24 9 207 186 85 proud with the way the boys were able to stick it Philadelphia 33 30 8 186 213 74 has ever maintained its success over such a Mercedes procession but the Australian Grand Los Angeles 34 30 7 175 179 75 out today,” said Smith. Carolina 30 27 13 182 203 73 big regulation change before,” said Wolff. Prix is often unpredictable,” said William Hill Vancouver 28 34 9 161 207 65 “The way Marsh and Handscomb batted New Jersey 26 33 12 164 209 64 “In a way, it’s just what the doctor ordered. spokesman Rupert Adams. Wolff said testing Arizona 26 36 9 172 227 61 today was fantastic. I thought they played beau- Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point To have such a challenge is good for the team. in Barcelona had indicated “that the margins Eastern Conference tifully. They didn’t look like they were getting out Atlantic Division in the standings and are not included in the loss “We have done the best job we possibly at the front of the field have shrunk,” although for a while. I’m really proud of them. Montreal 41 23 8 199 180 90 column (L) could over the winter and, if we are not the there was no way of knowing for sure. Jadeja, who claimed the prized scalp of Smith fastest in Melbourne, then it’s about finding Teams use testing to experiment with fuel for 21 second time round, caused problems for out why and what needs to be done to get us loads and power unit settings. Mercedes have all the Australian batsmen after the tourists back to that top spot.” won 51 of 59 grands prix since the 1.6 litre V6 resumed the day on 23-2. Ferrari emerged from pre-season testing turbo hybrid units were introduced. The team Fast bowler Ishant Sharma trapped Matt with the quickest times, although the also started all but one of last season’s races Renshaw lbw for 15 in the morning session after Mercedes pairing of triple champion Lewis on pole position. Ferrari and Red Bull are the an altercation between the two players seemed Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas did the most laps only teams to have beaten Mercedes since to have affected the left-handed batsman’s con- with impressive reliability. Bottas, previously 2013. —Reuters centration. But it was Smith’s wicket that brought a raucous home crowd to its feet after a quiet first hour of play. He tried to pad away a vicious turning deliv- ery from Jadeja but it spun from outside leg to rattle the right-hander’s off stump. Speaking at the post-match press-confrence, Kohli praised Jadeja and Pujara for putting India in a strong position after Australia’s first-innings 451. “Jadeja’s bowling was outstanding. He was high- class and proved why he is the joint top Test bowler along with Ashwin,” said Kohli. On man of the match Pujara, who registered his third Test double century, Kohli said: “He is the most com- posed player in the team... someone like that is priceless to have him in the team.” Australia’s comeback paceman Pat Cummins claimed four wickets, including that of captain Kohli (6) who has managed just 46 runs in the CHICAGO: Richard Panik #14 of the Chicago Blackhawks collides with Jeremy Smith #40 series. Kohli, who injured his shoulder while of the Colorado Avalanche as he tries to get off a shot in the third period at the United Toto Wolff fielding on the opening day, did not take the Center on Sunday in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Avalanche 6-3. — AFP